How to triple your memory by using this trick | Ricardo Lieuw On | TEDxHaarlem

Summary

The speaker introduces an interactive memory test to highlight the importance of memorization skills in a digital age where information is readily accessible. Through a vivid storytelling technique, they demonstrate how associating images with memory can enhance recall. The speaker shares their personal journey of learning and the power of experimentation in improving learning efficiency. They advocate for teaching the art of learning in schools and encourage continuous self-improvement through a three-step process: checking, experiencing, and experimenting.

Takeaways

• 📝 The importance of memorization skills in the past and questioning their relevance in today's technology-driven world.
• 🏫 The speaker's personal story of struggling with traditional learning methods and eventually finding a passion for psychology and learning.
• 🔍 The discovery of effective learning techniques such as visualization and association that can drastically reduce study time and increase retention.
• 🎓 The impact of learning how to learn on the speaker's academic success and their role in an honors program and obtaining a degree.
• 💡 The concept of 'experimentation' as a key to improving skills and the idea that anyone can get better at anything through practice and trying new methods.
• 🌟 The role of the company Remind in teaching the science and art of learning, and the organization of the Dutch National Memory Championships.
• 🧠 The use of creative visualization to memorize the past 10 presidents of the United States in order, demonstrating a novel memorization technique.
• 🤔 The reflection on the memorization process and the encouragement to consider if there are better ways to memorize effectively.
• 🎨 The idea that making memorization fun and engaging through bizarre images can significantly improve the learning experience.
• 🚀 The three-step process of experimentation as a method for learning and self-improvement: the check, the experience, and the experiment.
• 🌱 The message that learning is a lifelong process and that the ability to learn and adapt is crucial for personal and professional growth.

Q & A

What is the purpose of the initial memory test described in the script?

The initial memory test serves to assess the audience's current memorization techniques and to highlight the potential need for improvement in this skill.

Why does the speaker believe that memorization skills are still important in the digital age?

The speaker argues that while technology allows us to capture information easily, the skill of memorization is still valuable as it can enhance the ability to experiment and improve in various aspects of life.

What personal experience does the speaker share about their struggle with traditional learning?

The speaker shares that they flunked a grade twice in high school and felt that traditional learning methods were not suitable for them, leading to a period of working as a bagger in California.

How did the speaker's perspective on learning change after their time in California?

The speaker discovered that they did not hate learning but rather the specific way it was taught in school. This realization prompted them to study psychology and explore different learning methods.

What is the significance of the 'Dutch National Memory Championships' mentioned in the script?

The 'Dutch National Memory Championships' is an event organized by Remind to demonstrate that everyone has the potential for remarkable memory feats and to emphasize the broader importance of memorization beyond language learning.

What technique does the speaker use to help the audience memorize the past 10 presidents of the United States?

The speaker uses a visualization technique, associating each president with a bizarre image and a body part, making the memorization process more engaging and effective.

What is the main message the speaker wants to convey about the process of learning?

The speaker emphasizes that learning is a skill that can be improved through experimentation, and that anyone can become better at anything by being open to new methods and applying them.

What are the three steps of the experimentation process as outlined by the speaker?

The three steps are the check (becoming aware of current methods), the experience (exploring and trying new methods), and the experiment (applying the new method in one's life to see its effectiveness).

How does the speaker suggest individuals can apply the lessons from the talk in their own lives?

The speaker encourages individuals to conduct their own experiments, write them down on a card, and keep it as a reminder to apply new learning methods in their daily lives.

What is the role of the company Remind in the context of this talk?

Remind is the company where the speaker works, focusing on teaching the science and art of learning, and promoting the idea that anyone can improve their learning abilities through experimentation.

Why does the speaker believe that the skill of learning should be taught in schools?

The speaker believes that teaching the skill of learning in schools would empower students to understand that they can improve at any skill, including the process of learning itself, which is a valuable asset in various aspects of life.

Outlines

00:00

📝 The Memorization Challenge

The speaker introduces a memorization test for the audience, emphasizing it's not a judgment but a simple exercise. Participants are given 30 seconds to memorize 10 words, another 30 seconds to write them down, and a final 30 seconds to check their answers. The speaker then reflects on the importance of memorization in the past and its perceived decline in the digital age, where taking a picture can serve as a memory aid. The speaker shares a personal story of struggling with traditional learning methods and eventually discovering the joy of learning through psychology, which led to a career in education and memory improvement.

05:04

🎓 The Power of Creative Memorization

The speaker shares their journey from a struggling student to someone who excels in learning and memory techniques. They explain how they reduced their reading time significantly by experimenting with different study methods. The speaker works for Remind, a company focused on the science and art of learning, and has organized memory championships to showcase the capabilities of the human mind. They guide the audience through a creative visualization exercise, associating bizarre images with the body parts to memorize the past 10 U.S. presidents in order, demonstrating the effectiveness of this technique.

10:07

🧠 Embracing the Skill of Experimentation

The speaker discusses the importance of improving memory and learning skills in the modern age, emphasizing that memorization is more than just rote learning. They argue that by enhancing memory skills, one can also improve the skill of experimentation, which involves trying different methods to find what works best for oneself. The speaker's personal story illustrates how learning to experiment with learning methods led to a transformative experience in education and public speaking. They encourage the audience to embrace the process of experimentation as a means to continually improve and adapt in various aspects of life.

15:11

🚀 The Art of Learning and Continuous Improvement

In the final paragraph, the speaker concludes by advocating for the teaching of learning skills in schools and emphasizes that change begins with the individual. They outline the three steps of experimentation: checking current practices, experiencing new methods, and applying them in one's life. The speaker encourages the audience to apply these steps to improve their learning abilities and to approach new skills or tasks with an open mind. The message is that anyone can improve themselves through continuous learning and adaptation, and this skill is valuable across all aspects of life.

Keywords

💡Memorization

Memorization refers to the process of committing information to memory, often through repetition or association. In the video, memorization is a central theme, as the speaker discusses its importance and techniques for improving it. The initial test given to the audience is a practical example of memorization, where they are asked to remember a list of words in order.

💡Experimentation

Experimentation is the act of trying out new methods or approaches to see which is most effective. The speaker emphasizes the value of experimentation in learning, as it allows individuals to discover what works best for them. The process of learning new memorization techniques is an example of experimentation within the context of the video.

💡Learning

Learning is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, or understanding through study, experience, or being taught. The video's narrative revolves around the speaker's journey of learning and the realization that learning is not confined to traditional education settings. The speaker's experience as a bagger and the subsequent decision to study psychology illustrate the diverse avenues through which learning can occur.

💡Visualization

Visualization is a technique used to create mental images to aid in memory retention. In the script, the speaker uses a vivid visualization exercise to help the audience remember the past U.S. presidents in order. This method is presented as an alternative to traditional memorization techniques and is shown to be more engaging and effective.

💡Education

Education is the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university. The speaker reflects on the traditional model of education and suggests that it may not cater to all learning styles. The video promotes the idea of teaching the process of learning and experimentation as part of education to empower individuals to improve their learning abilities.

💡Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, particularly those affecting behavior. The speaker's interest in psychology is highlighted as a turning point in their learning journey. It represents the pursuit of knowledge for personal interest and the application of psychological principles in understanding learning and memory.

💡Skill Development

Skill development refers to the process of improving one's abilities in a particular area. The video emphasizes that by practicing and experimenting with different learning techniques, individuals can enhance their skills, not just in memorization but also in the broader process of learning.

💡Public Speaking

Public speaking is the act of performing a speech to a live audience. The speaker mentions overcoming a personal challenge in public speaking, which was initially perceived as a weakness. This illustrates the video's message that through practice and experimentation, one can improve and overcome perceived limitations.

💡Memory Techniques

Memory techniques are methods used to improve the ability to remember information. The script introduces various memory techniques, such as associating words with bizarre images, to help the audience remember a list of items. These techniques are showcased as tools to enhance memorization and learning efficiency.

💡Personal Growth

Personal growth refers to the process of improving and developing as a person. The video encourages personal growth through continuous learning and experimentation. The speaker's own transformation from disliking school to enjoying psychology and becoming an advocate for learning exemplifies the concept of personal growth.

💡Remind

Remind is the name of the company the speaker works for, which focuses on teaching the science and art of learning. In the context of the video, Remind represents an organization that promotes the idea of learning as a lifelong process and the importance of mastering the skill of learning.

Highlights

Introduction of a memory test to assess participants' memorization techniques.

Emphasis on the importance of memorization despite modern conveniences like photography.

Personal story of struggling with traditional learning and finding a passion for psychology.

Discovery of effective learning methods that reduced study time significantly.

The transformative power of learning and the joy of discovery in education.

Introduction of the company Remind and its mission to enhance learning experiences.

Organizing the Dutch National Memory Championships to showcase memory capabilities.

The use of vivid imagery to enhance memorization through a creative storytelling method.

Demonstration of memorizing the past 10 U.S. presidents using the body as a mnemonic device.

The effectiveness of creative visualization compared to traditional memorization techniques.

The value of experimentation in learning and personal development.

The three-step process of experimentation: check, experience, and experiment.

Encouragement for individuals to take charge of their learning and growth.

The idea that learning is a transferable skill applicable to various aspects of life.

A call to action for continuous learning and embracing the art of learning.

The applause and positive reception indicating the talk's impact on the audience.

Transcripts

Translator: Queenie Lee Reviewer: Tanya Cushman

So, I have a little test for you.

Don't panic.

I'm not here to judge you.

It's just a little test, OK?

First, you get 30 seconds to memorize 10 words in the right order.

After that, you get 30 seconds to write down what you remembered.

And then finally, you get 30 seconds to check your answers.

So, are you guys ready?

Well, we're going to start anyway.

So,

memorize 10 words in the right order in 30 seconds

in three, two, one, go!

OK. Stop.

Now write down what you remember.

OK, and stop.

Now quickly check your answers.

OK, and stop.

Very exciting; I heard a lot of grunting and moaning.

So I hope I didn't stress you out too much.

Now a moment of reflection.

I'd like you to ask yourself,

"How did I memorize this, and was it the best way to do it?"

Now, for the generation of my parents and grandparents,

being able to memorize something like this was an absolutely essential skill.

But nowadays, why would anyone want to remember a list of anything?

You just take a picture of the screen, and you're done, right?

it seemed as if memorizing has somehow become less important.

So why should we then, in today's day and age,

still want to get better at memorizing?

Well, to answer that question, I'd like to tell you a little story.

In high school, I flunked a grade, twice.

After seven years of torture, I finally got my diploma.

Sweet, sweet freedom!

What would I do with it?

I didn't know.

One thing I did know, however,

was that I didn't want to go back to school

because that old learning business,

it wasn't cut out for me.

So instead, I went to sunny California for nine months,

and there I worked as a bagger, not beggar - bagger.

So in a supermarket,

I had to put people's groceries in bags, and then I'd get a little tip.

Surprisingly, that year I learned so much.

I learned how to bag a bunch of groceries really, really quickly.

I learned how to drive a car.

And in California,

people are a little bit more open than they are in Amsterdam.

So I also learned how to have a little chat with a stranger,

just for the hell of it.

That year I discovered that I don't hate learning,

just the specific way of doing it.

So I decided to go and study psychology.

Now for the first time ever,

I was getting information that I absolutely wanted to know.

Now I was spending more time in the library

than I spent skipping school as a teenager, voluntarily.

The only problem was that I was spending all of my time in the library

because I'd never learned how to learn.

So I started experimenting with different methods of reading texts,

of memorizing texts,

and I got my reading time of three hours per chapter down to one.

This way of studying enabled me to do an honors program,

to get my degree,

and to fall in love with learning.

And now I happily work for a company called Remind,

in which we teach people the science and art of learning.

We're trying to bring back into education what we ourselves missed.

Now for the past three years,

we've also organized the Dutch National Memory Championships

for high schoolers.

We do this to show that everybody is capable of amazing feats of memory,

but also to show that memorization

is about a lot more than just learning your French or your Spanish words.

And today I'd also like to share this with you.

So, in the beginning,

I made you do this little test,

just to make you aware of how you're memorizing things right now.

Next, I'd like to give you a new type of memory experience.

This time you can even sit back and relax.

So I'm going to ask you to find a comfortable position to sit,

to close your eyes, and to take a deep breath.

Now, I want you to think of someone you know called John,

and I want you to see him.

Now, John just grabbed the sun out of the sky,

and he just threw it on your feet.

And now your feet are getting really big and red and swollen

because John just threw the sun on your feet.

Now you look to your knees,

and on your knees, you see 10 little guys playing basketball -

very strange sight.

And on their shirts,

you can see in brightly colored letters the "New York Knicks,"

so you have some Knicks on your knees.

Next, you look to where your thighs are,

but they're gone.

Your thighs have been replaced with Fords, the cars.

They could be Ford Focuses or Ford Mustangs.

Your thighs have been replaced with Fords.

Now, with your bottom,

you feel a hard plastic seat of a go-kart vibrating.

With your bottom, you feel the hard plastic seat of a go-kart.

Your belly starts rumbling very loudly.

So you follow your belly, and it leads you to McDonald's,

and there Ronald McDonald starts shooting rays of light at you

with a ray gun.

Ronald McDonald is shooting rays of light at you with a ray gun.

He hits you on your chest,

and now from your chest, a big bush of gray hairs is growing.

A huge bush of gray hair is growing from your chest.

So obviously, you hurry home to shave it off,

and on your doormat, you see a letter.

So you open it and it has good news.

As you read it, you feel a huge weight falling off your shoulders.

A huge weight falling off your shoulders.

Your shoulders get all light and tingly because you just paid all of your bills.

Big bills, little bills,

each and every bill has been paid for, and you have plenty of money to spare.

Now you proceed to the bathroom,

because now on your neck,

a bunch of tiny bushes of thin blonde hairs have appeared.

On your neck, a bunch of tiny bushes of thin blonde hair.

As you look in the mirror,

suddenly your mouth just starts talking all by itself,

and it's saying, "Yes, we can; yes we can; yes we can."

Now you turn around, and now suddenly your eyes are, ah,

because Donald Duck just poked out both of your eyes

with a trumpet made of pure gold.

Now you can open your eyes again and come back to this place.

Luckily, it's a lot safer here than where you just came from.

So, I just made you guys memorize

the past 10 presidents of the United States of America

in the right order.

Now I'm going to show you,

and then you can see how many of these you still know.

So with each body part, I'm going to ask you what happened there,

and then you could think of it.

Even better would be if you just shout it out.

Now, what happened to your feet?

John threw the sun, yeah - President Johnson.

(Laughter)

Now, what happened on your knees? Knicks, yes - President Nixon.

OK. So what were your thighs replaced with?

Fords - President Ford.

OK, and what did you feel with your bottom?

OK, President Carter, yes.

Some people are ahead of the game.

Now, your belly led you to McDonald's;

what happened?

OK. Ronald McDonald shooting rays of …

So Ronald Reagan.

He hits in your chest, and you got what?

Big bush of gray hairs - Bush senior.

(Laughter)

Now, your shoulders got light, why?

Paid all your bills - Bill Clinton.

Now, what did you have on your neck?

OK, a bush of thin blonde hairs.

Bush junior.

What was your mouth saying?

"Yes we can" - President Obama.

And what happened to your eyes?

Yeah, Donald Duck, trumpet, pure gold.

Who else but Donald Trump?

So, if you memorized more this time than the first time, please stand up.

OK. So we have almost everyone standing up;

that's awesome.

Now, if you think this way of memorizing is more fun than the last way you used,

please stand up or remain standing if you're already standing.

Oh whoa, now we almost have everyone.

I'm very pleased to see this.

OK. You guys can sit back down.

Thank you very much.

Now, when you make bizarre images to memorize,

suddenly it becomes a lot easier.

If you tie these bizarre images to a place you know well,

like your body,

suddenly memorizing things in order becomes a lot easier.

OK. Well, cool.

But I asked you guys in the beginning,

"Why should we, in today's day and age,

still want to get better at this - at memorizing?"

Well, because by getting better in a skill like this,

you can also get better at a different skill:

the skill of experimentation.

By experimenting with different methods of doing things,

I found out that I can get better at anything.

I found out what works for me and what doesn't.

What if I'd never learned the skill of experimentation?

I may have never gone back to school;

I may have never enjoyed studying psychology,

and I probably would not have been standing here today,

because one of the things I thought I really couldn't do was public speaking.

Now, there are people of every generation not doing things that they might love,

that they might even be great at

because they think they can't do it.

So how beautiful would it be

if in schools we can teach kids that they can get better at anything,

and they can even get better at getting better at things, get it?

But not just the kids,

because the older generation is often seen as too old to learn.

But they're not too rusty.

Anyone can improve themselves by experimenting,

and I hope you experienced that today.

Now at Remind,

we break up this process of experimentation into three steps:

the check, the experience and the experiment.

The check is all about becoming aware of what you're doing right now.

So maybe during the first test, you became aware of the fact

that you just repeat the words over and over

and that that doesn't work too well.

The second step:

the experience is all about being open to new possibilities and trying them out.

So maybe during the visualization,

you realize that this works a bit better or at least you like it more.

And the third step is the experiment.

This is about taking something from that new experience that you had

and applying it in your own life to see how it works for you.

So, maybe you're one of those people

that when someone introduces themselves to you,

you just immediately forget their name.

Yeah, sound familiar?

And you want to use visualization to do something about that.

So far I've only taken you guys through the first two steps.

The final step is up to you.

So when I'm done here, I'd like you to take a moment for yourself

and to write down an experiment on the little card we've given you

and to put that in your wallet as a reminder.

By continually following these steps of experimentation,

you discover what you're doing;

you keep yourself open to new possibilities,

and you allow yourself to continually transform.

And regardless of what you're learning,

be it memorizing or martial arts or mathematics,

you'll get better not only in the skill that you're trying to develop,

but you'll get better at the process of learning itself.

And that's something that sticks.

It's something you could take with you to your new job, your new hobby,

your new relationship, your new whatever.

So this is something absolutely everyone should know,

and I believe we should teach it in schools.

But let's not just wait for it to be implemented in schools.

I also believe that the most important change starts with the individual.

It starts with you.

So, go out there and experiment.

Learn something new

or a new way of approaching something old

because there are few skills as valuable as the art of learning.

Thank you.

(Applause)